S5/2019 (Revised): New burdens funding to meet the costs of implementing mixed age couples changes in 2018 to 2019
Updated 27 November 2019
Applies to England and Wales
© Crown copyright 2019
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Who should read
All Housing Benefit staff
Action
For information
Revision
This circular is being reissued as we have amended the subject description, title and main heading in order to correctly state when this funding is for. We have also updated Shepway LA to correctly read as Folkestone and Hythe. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Guidance Manual
The information in this circular does not affect the content of the HB Guidance Manual.
Queries
If you have any queries about the:
- technical content of this circular, contact hddchange.managementoffice@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
- payments, contact hbsubsidy.queries@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
- distribution of this circular, contact housing.correspondenceandpqs@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
Background
1. A policy change provided for in the Welfare Reform Act 2012 is being implemented affecting access to Pension Credit and pension age Housing Benefit (HB) for ‘mixed age couples’. A mixed age couple is one in which one member is over Pension Credit qualifying age and the other below.
2. Currently such couples can choose to claim either Pension Credit and/or pension age HB, or working age benefits, including Universal Credit.
3. From 15 May 2019 mixed age couples will only be able to access Pension Credit and/or pension age HB once both members have reached Pension Credit qualifying age.
4. Mixed age couples already claiming pension age income-related benefits at the point of change will not be affected so long as they remain entitled to either benefit.
5. For further information you should refer to circular HB A3/2019.
6. A mailshot was issued between February and March 2019 to alert existing mixed age couples of the changes from 15 May 2019.
7. The DWP/LA Practitioners’ Operational Group has been consulted regarding the new burdens associated with implementing this change.
Funding and payment details
8. Although LAs will receive a single payment, in order to provide transparency, a breakdown of the total funding is given below and detailed in Annex A.
| Area of activity | Total amount | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Changes to websites, online claims forms and leaflets. | £750,000 | Based on previous New Burdens paid for this one off cost to implement the change. |
| Learning and development. | £291,400 | Money will be allocated to each LA according to HB caseload size. |
| Additional contact by mixed age couples to HB processing staff | £66,125 | Expected volume of theses queries is 6250 x £10.58 single unit cost for change |
9. Each LA will receive their allocation payment the week commencing 25 March 2019.
Annex A: Allocation of new burdens funding
| LA | Mixed age couples funding (£) |
|---|---|
| Aberdeen | £3,116.10 |
| Aberdeenshire | £2,919.58 |
| Adur | £2,247.68 |
| Allerdale | £2,421.55 |
| Amber Valley | £2,503.72 |
| Angus | £2,572.14 |
| Argyll and Bute | £2,485.75 |
| Arun | £2,696.99 |
| Ashfield | £2,658.46 |
| Ashford | £2,525.18 |
| Aylesbury Vale | £2,651.16 |
| Babergh | £2,287.95 |
| Barking & Dagenham | £3,635.00 |
| Barnet | £4,419.12 |
| Barnsley | £3,365.34 |
| Barrow in Furness | £2,336.16 |
| Basildon | £2,953.65 |
| Basingstoke and Deane | £2,648.64 |
| Bassetlaw | £2,497.67 |
| Bath & North East Somerset | £2,671.18 |
| Bedford | £2,737.78 |
| Bexley | £3,121.57 |
| Birmingham | £10,326.20 |
| Blaby | £2,239.08 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | £2,815.55 |
| Blackpool | £3,368.72 |
| Blaenau Gwent | £2,521.86 |
| Bolsover | £2,387.54 |
| Bolton | £3,775.71 |
| Boston | £2,338.65 |
| Bournemouth | £3,152.89 |
| Bracknell Forest | £2,441.69 |
| Bradford | £5,034.54 |
| Braintree | £2,588.75 |
| Breckland | £2,543.91 |
| Brent | £4,981.71 |
| Brentwood | £2,197.50 |
| Bridgend | £2,791.79 |
| Brighton and Hove | £3,826.11 |
| Bristol | £4,815.65 |
| Broadland | £2,339.24 |
| Bromley | £3,405.20 |
| Bromsgrove | £2,244.61 |
| Broxbourne | £2,431.62 |
| Broxtowe | £2,405.36 |
| Burnley | £2,557.24 |
| Bury | £2,922.18 |
| Caerphilly | £3,072.74 |
| Calderdale | £3,064.22 |
| Cambridge | £2,542.95 |
| Camden | £4,447.96 |
| Cannock Chase | £2,457.73 |
| Canterbury | £2,642.00 |
| Cardiff | £4,127.37 |
| Carlisle | £2,484.84 |
| Carmarthenshire | £2,932.84 |
| Castle Point | £2,310.15 |
| Central Bedfordshire | £2,930.47 |
| Ceredigion | £2,315.10 |
| Charnwood | £2,531.14 |
| Chelmsford | £2,616.05 |
| Cheltenham | £2,442.17 |
| Cherwell | £2,502.38 |
| Cheshire East | £3,308.07 |
| Cheshire West and Chester | £3,419.39 |
| Chesterfield | £2,631.19 |
| Chichester | £2,463.65 |
| Chiltern | £2,251.47 |
| Chorley | £2,400.16 |
| Christchurch | £2,176.83 |
| City of London | £2,082.60 |
| Clackmannanshire | £2,314.51 |
| Colchester | £2,782.27 |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | £2,126.53 |
| Conwy | £2,606.69 |
| Copeland | £2,317.34 |
| Corby | £2,364.11 |
| Cornwall | £5,028.93 |
| Cotswold | £2,273.43 |
| Coventry | £3,963.39 |
| Craven | £2,136.90 |
| Crawley | £2,679.45 |
| Croydon | £4,457.58 |
| Dacorum | £2,712.56 |
| Darlington | £2,649.35 |
| Dartford | £2,404.22 |
| Daventry | £2,213.55 |
| Denbighshire | £2,553.08 |
| Derby | £3,416.89 |
| Derbyshire Dales | £2,207.87 |
| Doncaster | £3,712.83 |
| Dover | £2,561.14 |
| Dudley | £3,606.62 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | £2,952.34 |
| Dundee | £3,310.51 |
| Durham | £5,456.06 |
| Ealing | £4,576.43 |
| East Ayrshire | £2,842.53 |
| East Cambridgeshire | £2,286.77 |
| East Devon | £2,490.64 |
| East Dorset | £2,247.22 |
| East Dunbartonshire | £2,333.68 |
| East Hampshire | £2,335.98 |
| East Hertfordshire | £2,474.48 |
| East Lindsey | £2,785.57 |
| East Lothian | £2,457.70 |
| East Northamptonshire | £2,282.14 |
| East Renfrewshire | £2,263.96 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | £3,312.46 |
| East Staffordshire | £2,457.02 |
| Eastbourne | £2,631.18 |
| Eastleigh | £2,383.12 |
| Eden | £2,132.43 |
| Edinburgh | £4,827.39 |
| Elmbridge | £2,442.36 |
| Enfield | £4,737.40 |
| Epping Forest | £2,503.59 |
| Epsom and Ewell | £2,218.38 |
| Erewash | £2,465.09 |
| Exeter | £2,604.55 |
| Falkirk | £2,908.74 |
| Fareham | £2,289.06 |
| Fenland | £2,479.85 |
| Fife | £4,124.17 |
| Flintshire | £2,620.34 |
| Folkestone and Hythe | £2,607.73 |
| Forest Heath | £2,238.60 |
| Forest of Dean | £2,323.67 |
| Fylde | £2,310.07 |
| Gateshead | £3,418.85 |
| Gedling | £2,454.90 |
| Glasgow | £8,475.26 |
| Gloucester | £2,638.77 |
| Gosport | £2,456.69 |
| Gravesham | £2,492.20 |
| Great Yarmouth | £2,623.53 |
| Greenwich | £4,515.05 |
| Guildford | £2,458.81 |
| Gwynedd | £2,584.79 |
| Hackney | £5,718.37 |
| Halton | £2,784.21 |
| Hambleton | £2,258.41 |
| Hammersmith& Fulham | £3,715.86 |
| Harborough | £2,170.89 |
| Haringey | £4,698.33 |
| Harlow | £2,563.23 |
| Harrogate | £2,439.87 |
| Harrow | £3,340.96 |
| Hart | £2,176.18 |
| Hartlepool | £2,716.07 |
| Hastings | £2,679.69 |
| Havant | £2,457.61 |
| Havering | £3,096.90 |
| Herefordshire | £2,769.11 |
| Hertsmere | £2,465.28 |
| High Peak | £2,365.53 |
| Highland | £3,085.02 |
| Hillingdon | £3,646.97 |
| Hinckley and Bosworth | £2,291.32 |
| Horsham | £2,380.31 |
| Hounslow | £3,567.27 |
| Huntingdonshire | £2,603.29 |
| Hyndburn | £2,475.16 |
| Inverclyde | £2,619.87 |
| Ipswich | £2,832.35 |
| Isle of Anglesey | £2,343.07 |
| Isle of Wight | £2,786.66 |
| Isles of Scilly | £1,976.92 |
| Islington | £4,700.45 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | £3,553.43 |
| Kettering | £2,402.43 |
| King’s Lynn & West Norfolk | £2,663.93 |
| Kingston upon Hull | £4,370.60 |
| Kingston upon Thames | £2,711.06 |
| Kirklees | £4,130.24 |
| Knowsley | £3,227.40 |
| Lambeth | £5,468.41 |
| Lancaster | £2,584.03 |
| Leeds | £6,871.76 |
| Leicester | £4,278.92 |
| Lewes | £2,428.35 |
| Lewisham | £5,139.00 |
| Lichfield | £2,288.03 |
| Lincoln | £2,602.10 |
| Liverpool | £6,406.91 |
| Luton | £3,199.01 |
| Maidstone | £2,643.62 |
| Maldon | £2,196.59 |
| Malvern Hills | £2,270.99 |
| Manchester | £6,515.83 |
| Mansfield | £2,609.27 |
| Medway | £3,383.92 |
| Melton | £2,125.45 |
| Mendip | £2,416.58 |
| Merthyr Tydfil | £2,376.10 |
| Merton | £2,984.87 |
| Mid Devon | £2,289.63 |
| Mid Suffolk | £2,260.87 |
| Mid Sussex | £2,381.96 |
| Middlesbrough | £3,287.03 |
| Midlothian | £2,429.34 |
| Milton Keynes | £3,509.56 |
| Mole Valley | £2,269.32 |
| Monmouthshire | £2,335.09 |
| Moray | £2,395.95 |
| Neath Port Talbot | £2,920.39 |
| New Forest | £2,586.55 |
| Newark and Sherwood | £2,457.76 |
| Newcastle under Lyme | £2,542.45 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | £4,068.71 |
| Newham | £4,770.75 |
| Newport | £2,909.97 |
| North Ayrshire | £3,080.85 |
| North Devon | £2,440.40 |
| North Dorset | £2,224.80 |
| North East Derbyshire | £2,432.70 |
| North East Lincolnshire | £2,985.35 |
| North Hertfordshire | £2,541.83 |
| North Kesteven | £2,342.46 |
| North Lanarkshire | £4,380.76 |
| North Lincolnshire | £2,772.77 |
| North Norfolk | £2,448.88 |
| North Somerset | £2,934.80 |
| North Tyneside | £3,282.71 |
| North Warwickshire | £2,224.11 |
| North West Leicestershire | £2,308.30 |
| Northampton | £3,137.72 |
| Northumberland | £3,708.32 |
| Norwich | £3,117.53 |
| Nottingham | £4,541.84 |
| Nuneaton and Bedworth | £2,590.41 |
| Oadby and Wigston | £2,133.55 |
| Oldham | £3,352.57 |
| Orkney | £2,069.77 |
| Oxford | £2,743.24 |
| Pembrokeshire | £2,629.00 |
| Pendle | £2,491.02 |
| Perth and Kinross | £2,680.64 |
| Peterborough | £3,122.40 |
| Plymouth | £3,670.34 |
| Poole | £2,602.28 |
| Portsmouth | £3,646.10 |
| Powys | £2,544.06 |
| Preston | £2,772.32 |
| Purbeck | £2,160.05 |
| Reading | £2,948.28 |
| Redbridge | £3,419.38 |
| Redcar and Cleveland | £2,963.35 |
| Redditch | £2,379.10 |
| Reigate and Banstead | £2,486.69 |
| Renfrewshire | £3,252.18 |
| Rhondda Cynon Taf | £3,412.89 |
| Ribble Valley | £2,116.36 |
| Richmondshire | £2,116.12 |
| Richmond Upon Thames | £2,732.62 |
| Rochdale | £3,439.44 |
| Rochford | £2,224.66 |
| Rossendale | £2,318.12 |
| Rother | £2,365.85 |
| Rotherham | £3,607.93 |
| Rugby | £2,340.88 |
| Runnymede | £2,290.07 |
| Rushcliffe | £2,272.68 |
| Rushmoor | £2,477.21 |
| Rutland | £2,071.39 |
| Ryedale | £2,158.87 |
| Salford | £3,962.13 |
| Sandwell | £4,339.33 |
| Scarborough | £2,651.01 |
| Scottish Borders | £2,644.84 |
| Sedgemoor | £2,470.86 |
| Sefton | £3,577.75 |
| Selby | £2,256.23 |
| Sevenoaks | £2,391.44 |
| Sheffield | £5,606.34 |
| Shetland | £2,053.97 |
| Shropshire | £3,153.53 |
| Slough | £2,861.46 |
| Solihull | £2,849.26 |
| South Ayrshire | £2,685.10 |
| South Bucks | £2,181.67 |
| South Cambridgeshire | £2,403.12 |
| South Derbyshire | £2,292.92 |
| South Gloucestershire | £2,983.39 |
| South Hams | £2,320.72 |
| South Holland | £2,322.38 |
| South Kesteven | £2,497.20 |
| South Lakeland | £2,283.88 |
| South Lanarkshire | £3,820.98 |
| South Norfolk | £2,411.36 |
| South Northamptonshire | £2,189.49 |
| South Oxfordshire | £2,368.43 |
| South Ribble | £2,351.33 |
| South Somerset | £2,631.96 |
| South Staffordshire | £2,349.24 |
| South Tyneside | £3,309.94 |
| Southampton | £3,533.44 |
| Southend on Sea | £3,084.54 |
| Southwark | £5,026.53 |
| Spelthorne | £2,372.03 |
| St Albans | £2,417.42 |
| St Edmundsbury | £2,399.44 |
| St Helens | £3,105.48 |
| Stafford | £2,432.24 |
| Staffordshire Moorlands | £2,271.81 |
| Stevenage | £2,510.43 |
| Stirling | £2,360.63 |
| Stockport | £3,273.27 |
| Stockton on Tees | £3,156.88 |
| Stoke on Trent | £3,708.54 |
| Stratford on Avon | £2,394.72 |
| Stroud | £2,374.55 |
| Suffolk Coastal | £2,421.85 |
| Sunderland | £4,216.18 |
| Surrey Heath | £2,226.60 |
| Sutton | £2,908.27 |
| Swale | £2,707.01 |
| Swansea | £3,427.61 |
| Swindon | £2,885.69 |
| Tameside | £3,443.10 |
| Tamworth | £2,321.45 |
| Tandridge | £2,263.32 |
| Taunton Deane | £2,459.93 |
| Teignbridge | £2,546.23 |
| Telford and Wrekin | £3,090.56 |
| Tendring | £2,871.26 |
| Test Valley | £2,392.87 |
| Tewkesbury | £2,271.25 |
| Thanet | £2,975.55 |
| Three Rivers | £2,306.90 |
| Thurrock | £2,809.68 |
| Tonbridge and Malling | £2,463.26 |
| Torbay | £2,977.57 |
| Torfaen | £2,570.36 |
| Torridge | £2,277.72 |
| Tower Hamlets | £5,359.06 |
| Trafford | £2,933.48 |
| Tunbridge Wells | £2,439.95 |
| Uttlesford | £2,202.72 |
| Vale of Glamorgan | £2,603.27 |
| Vale of White Horse | £2,358.21 |
| Wakefield | £4,134.80 |
| Walsall | £3,887.89 |
| Waltham Forest | £3,923.83 |
| Wandsworth | £4,366.91 |
| Warrington | £2,805.89 |
| Warwick | £2,460.07 |
| Watford | £2,462.45 |
| Waveney | £2,615.12 |
| Waverley | £2,392.90 |
| Wealden | £2,436.05 |
| Wellingborough | £2,374.42 |
| Welwyn Hatfield | £2,543.49 |
| West Berkshire | £2,526.03 |
| West Devon | £2,199.07 |
| West Dorset | £2,391.67 |
| West Dunbartonshire | £2,872.10 |
| West Lancashire | £2,444.20 |
| West Lindsey | £2,406.42 |
| West Lothian | £3,075.50 |
| West Oxfordshire | £2,313.22 |
| West Somerset | £2,163.01 |
| Westminster | £4,256.67 |
| Weymouth and Portland | £2,371.90 |
| Wigan | £3,707.57 |
| Wiltshire | £3,698.34 |
| Winchester | £2,379.59 |
| Windsor and Maidenhead | £2,463.01 |
| Wirral | £4,059.71 |
| Woking | £2,345.01 |
| Wokingham | £2,293.99 |
| Wolverhampton | £3,841.03 |
| Worcester | £2,480.84 |
| Worthing | £2,465.36 |
| Wrexham | £2,734.86 |
| Wychavon | £2,444.47 |
| Wycombe | £2,614.09 |
| Wyre | £2,525.62 |
| Wyre Forest | £2,517.76 |
| York | £2,658.37 |